The Story Behind This Image of a Confederate Soldier and His Servant

[@paulbolcik4444]

Great story about a fantastic artifact! Thanks for the full story - as this may be your best episode yet? Inside Silas Chandlers jacket can be seen a "Manhattan Co. firearms" - "pepperbox pistol". During the California Goldrush which occurred a decade previous to this photograph - they were just as popular as the "Colt Co. firearms" pistols.

[@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail]

Many thanks, Paul. Appreciate the detail about his pistol.

[@Calatriste54]

"History is History.. you can't get around it.." So well said.

[@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail]

During my interview with him, the moment he said it, I knew this would be the conclusion of my story!

[@michaeldouglas1243]

​​@@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail it was well said and well placed.

[@THE-HammerMan]

"History is history, you can't get by it." Nuff said... except for a thanks to Ron for his excellent work.

[@brucevaughn2886]

Most interesting and captivating account of these men, their service in the war and their families.

[@HG-pj2ik]

Always wondered about this image thank you for bringing it to light Ron.

[@tracyscott2550]

I live in city in the city of Chickamauga and walk my dogs in the battlefield 2-3 times a week It’s always been my favorite place. I think I’ll try to find that area the 44th Mississippi fought in that cold day. Maybe I can find that sport at the bottom of the hill. I enjoy many mornings getting ready for work watching your informative and captivating stories Thank you. .

[@outdoorlife-j4h]

I can see that. It is a nice natural place to take the dogs for a walk. The same thing happened to Valley Forge, it is in the middle of Philla kind of. Great place to run bike etc without being ran over by a car.

[@tracyscott2550]

Sorry about the poor spelling. I think I can see in the am. I obviously needed my glasses. Ron, you have a way of reading these stories that add value. Thanks again.

[@garyjones8222]

What a fantastic story. I am from Mississippi originally and my relatives fault in the confederate army in both Mississippi and Alabama units while I am very proud of my ancestors service, I never forget what a terrible experience these African-American slaves were put through. I surely appreciate, the time you spent on this story and the unbiased presentation and allowing the words of all parties to speak for themselves. Once again, I really enjoy this site.

[@jojohnston4113]

What a recollection! Thanks for sharing.

[@Tricia1969]

Great story. I enjoy hearing the human interest stories over the battles. Thank you for your research.

[@ScottSki-zx3kc]

Excellent. Thank you sir.

[@GregSimmons-y6q]

Love this episode.

[@amadeusamwater]

The reconciliation you mentioned reminds me of the Jefferson-Hemings families doing something very similar.

[@edwil111]

What an amazing story!

[@mlbs4803]

Similar story from a Louisiana branch of my family, but sadly without as much detail. Both boys were playmates from childhood, then master and servant. They (and I assume their families) lived together their entire lives.

[@keithsilverang7906]

Amazing story 😮

[@MichaelLeBlanc-p4f]

In 'Mark Twains' biographies and his autobiography, you will find many references to slaves and their owners. Seems strong emotional family bonds developed over succeeding generations whatever the class system. You can't be safely tended to throughout childhood, by an older playmate who would take over household duties and in turn care for your children the same way and not develop high regard for them . . . and cry when they die

[@charlesbelser7249]

I surely wish I could have met Silas .

[@estercobb3436]

Seems like he took on a fatherly role to the two young men he accompanied into battle and they appear to have shared his affection. I think it says a lot that he chose to stay and raise his family on adjacent property to the Collier’s even after he was free. People don’t like to hear this, but just because there was a law making slavery illegal, does not mean the world was immediately a kind place to freed slaves. It was an incredibly dangerous world where slavery by another name continued to flourish and families had to stick together and protect eachother, black and white.

[@estercobb3436]

And by “slavery by another name” I am referencing the excellent PBS documentary regarding the caveat to the Emancipation Proclamation that slavery was still legal for prison inmates, which lead to decades of false imprisonment and horrific treatment for former slaves.

[@estercobb3436]

Even the holier than thou Industrial magnates of the north would become rich on the backs of former slaves, arrested on bogus charges and forced to work in quarries and mines. They essentially became the new slave owning class while hiding behind fake Aboloitionist claims. All is not what it appears to be on the surface. Southern families had complicated generations of mixed race siblings, and most, including my family, had many members “passing” as white. My meemaw who I’m named after was a statuesque dark complected “white” woman born in 1900 Texas, with long black wavy hair to her waist. Her grandfather was not her biological grandfather, but was instead a wealthy white man who adopted the son of his wife’s younger sister by a man that he subsequently shot!!

[@mikemcmanus116]

Great story.

[@davide9658]

Great episode Ron. I've seen and heard of many accounts of African American Confederates. It's an interesting aspect of Civil War history. It's understandable why many don't want to accept it, but they did, in fact, serve, some compulsory but many voluntarily. It's a complex subject, but a lot of enslaved blacks had strong familial bonds to their masters and their families, such as Silas, and strong attachments to their places of birth. To deny their existence or question their motives is a disservice to such people. Just looking at Silas' image in that photo and hearing his story says a lot. He looks like a fighter and seems to have conducted himself like one. By the way, my great great grandfather also fought at Chickamauga.

[@Tsanusdi]

They did not serve as soldiers, just as support. Per Confederate law and policy, blacks were NOT allowed to be soldiers. We know this because Pat Cleburne tried to put out a petition to have slaves turned into soldiers and it was utterly rejected by Davis and company. Ten months later, the Confederate Congress tried to bring it up on their own.....after 5 months of intense debate, the Confederate Congress finally passed the law allowing blacks to serve as soldiers in mid-March 1865-just a few weeks before Lee would surrender. As Ron points out above, they were given pensions as loyal slaves and servants, NOT as soldiers.

[@davide9658]

That was the official policy and narrative for sure, but how that translated into reality is a different matter. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence, such as the account of our friend Silas, that suggest otherwise. It does seem that there were different shades of gray during that war. ​@Tsanusdi

[@Tsanusdi]

@@davide9658 ROFL! NOTHING in that video above said anything about him fighting, only in getting Chandler off the field and getting him back home so that they could save his leg. Reality is that they were not allowed to be soldiers. Period. Let's see you post combat accounts of Silas, seeing as none one has been able to yet!

[@davide9658]

I can't prove he did and you can't prove he didn't so this is a useless discussion. ​My point is that unless you think he was just posing, he sure looked and acted like a soldier. What do you have against the idea or possibility that he might have decided on his own accord to take such actions? There are many such accounts that I've heard about over the years.

[@tracyscott2550]

No but he is holding weapons and wearing a confederate uniform.

[@ericcowles6518]

You should read Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth by Kevin Levin.

[@Tsanusdi]

Indeed, a fantastic book which wrecks the notion that blacks were soldiers throughout the war.

[@steventhompson399]

I've heard several times people insisting blacks served as confederate soldiers and wanted their homeland the south to win, but it always sounded suspect to me, even before I started learning about the war... it sounds ludicrous, but it's a thing people bring up sometimes, I guess they want to make the confederacy seem less racist so it looks better to people today

[@MrHand-ih4sz]

Ever read about the victims of the NYC Draft riots?

[@Tsanusdi]

@@MrHand-ih4sz , yep, which has NOTHING to do with the Confederate military and political policy to not have blacks as soldiers.

[@Tsanusdi]

@@MrHand-ih4sz , ever hear about the massacres of black Union troops throughout the war? Or that the Confederacy refused to exchange Union black soldiers, which is what caused the prisoner exchanges to fall apart?

[@JuelPayne-y1j]

Loyalty and friendship. Like it or not brothers in arms.

[@HardscrabbleBlake1968]

It is possible, perhaps probable, that Silas acted out of genuine affection for the Chandler brothers. However, his wife and probably other family were among the Chandler's 36 slaves. He may just have stayed loyal out of fear of what might happen to them if he ran away.

[@brianniegemann4788]

Ron, thank you for this important insight into the relationships of Confederate officers and their "servants". And thank you for making it dispassionate and factual. You mention that 1,739 black freedmen were eligible for military pensions after the war. This surprised me. But there must have been many cases of slaves like Silas protecting their owners in battle, and honor demanded that they receive some compensation for their service. Even though these slave soldiers had little choice in their roles, they must have developed the bond that happens between all men in war. Silas seems to have been well treated by the standards of the time. He was taught a trade and allowed to earn a little money. I'm glad that he was able to live decently as a free man.

[@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail]

Thanks, Brian. Silas is one of many men of color who served in this capacity. In his case, Silas had an interest to stay alive for his wife and child held in bondage on the family plantation. Andrew needed Silas to stay alive so that he could make trips back and forth to Mississippi. And Andrew's mother needed Silas to stay alive to keep supplies and news moving between her and Andrew. It is a unique dynamic that played out in thousands of cases throughout the Southern armies.

[@michaelsnyder3871]

Not a musket, a double barreled shotgun.

[@googlepeace]

Excellent catch.

[@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail]

Thanks for setting the record straight!

[@davide9658]

Thank you for the additional information. I don't have any reason to question the testimony of Gen. Corse, as I am sure it must have been factual from his perspective, which was as a Confederate officer in the Eastern theater. Since the official policy from Richmond was that no black men could serve in combat roles, I am sure that was observed in the Eastern theater. I suspect the Western theater may have been a different story however, especially when it came to commanders like Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was a guy who played by his own rules. He once threatened the life of his commanding officer (Braxton Bragg) and no one dared do anything about it. I've heard and read about many black men who served under him. As I said before, most were servants, workers and teamsters but some were in combat roles, such as Holt Collier who I mentioned earlier. I've even seen KZbin videos of the men who served under him at various post war reunions speaking about it. I saw another with an interview of black man who talks about his ancestor fighting under Forrest. You can find it if you try. Insofar as our friend Silas is concerned, I've seen his photo many times over the years and he doesn't strike me as someone who was dressing up in a Confederate uniform, with a Bowie knife and musket in hand just for the camera. If he was on the front lines with his master, which he certainly was, who would have stopped him from fighting? For some reason there are people who just can't fathom the idea that black people would have had such allegiance to the South. I don't find it hard to believe at all. Many, like Silas, were not mistreated and had strong ties to the place of their birth and sometimes even blood relations with their masters. Why wouldn't they fight if given the opportunity? Anyway, that's enough said on this topic. Let's all look forward to Ron's next excellent video. Good evening and good bye for now.

[@libeloussmith7656]

A pension is a pension.

[@beulahalestick8297]

Historian Ervin Jordan estimates 13000 African Americans fought for the Confederacy based on pensions paid by former Confederate states.

[@philmccracken7520]

and there people who say that Blacks didn't fight for the south and yet this picture says otherwise , and Silas after he took andrew home , he went with andrew brother and andrew's brother and silas where they were with Jeff Davis on his fleeing from richmond ! Silas story is wonderful , nothing beats the true story of Holt Collier.

[@oldgeezerproductions]

It is obvious that some slaves were emotionally attached to their "owners" and followed them as their servants, while their master served in battle. This particular story, in no way says or implies that this slave fought in any battle, but the picture does show him holding his master's weapons. Holding weapons for a photograph is hardly "fighting for the South" and does not provide any credible evidence that any slaves ever served in the capacity of Confederate soldier.

[@brianniegemann4788]

It must never be forgotten that all blacks in the rebel armies were slaves. They had no choice in the matter. If they protected and defended their masters, it was out of self-interest. Silas knew that if his master was killed, he would probably be sold, lose his wife, and end up picking cotton somewhere. That's why he rescued him from the surgeons; he wanted to go home, get a break from the war while his master recovered, and earn some gold stars from the family. He sure wasn't doing it because he loved the cause of slavery and white supremacy.

[@23rdMS_Inf]

@@oldgeezerproductions Making slaves fight a war for them and putting them in danger went against the Southern honor code. The demand for labor as the Southern white working population was mobilized also made it a necessity to keep slaves in the labor pool.

[@oldgeezerproductions]

@@23rdMS_Inf I agree, the slaves were indeed needed for the South's labor pool. I won't say anything about the "Southern honor code" but for sure, absolutely for sure, allowing slaves to perform the honor of being Southern soldier went completely against, I MEAN COMPLETELY AGAINST the implacable racial theories and beliefs of that time and place. Southern Honor, if it required anything, required that people of the African Race be considered and treated as grossly inferior to "The White Race" in intellect, honor and abilities and NOT be allowed the honor and prestige of being a soldier.

[@estercobb3436]

Holt Collier is portrayed in Ang Lee’s excellent and wildly underrated movie “Ride With the Devil.”

[@paulbolcik4444]

There were indeed Blacks that fought for the C.S.A. Alfred Bellard of the 5th New Jersey Inf. recounts a story in his year 1891 memoir "Gone for a soldier" of an incident on pg. 57 (reprint by "Little, Brown" 1975) of the C.S.A. "Negro" sharpshooter" who hid in a giant hollow tree at the rebel trenches in Yorktown, Va. and exchanged shots with the "Berdan's sharp shooters" on the 25th of April 1862. There are other accurate accounts left by many who had no reason to create falsehoods of Negro C.S.A. soldiers to numerous to mention here. Even Frederick Douglas knew that hundreds of Blacks fought for the C.S.A. taken from accurate accounts that he had heard in his time, so are you going to call him and his writings a lie? Kevin Levin has a 21st century agenda to "push" by distorting history to fit his "modern political agenda".

[@michaelthomas7178]

It is hard to realize to black actually fought for the confederate cause.

[@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail]

To my knowledge, there are n examples of Black men having fought for the Confederacy. In this instance, Silas was a servant and received a pension as the servant to a Confederate soldiers. So, he was recognized for his service only as a servant.

[@timsterrett2417]

I cant imagine having slaves free labor and servants to treat like dogs, then have them fight and protect you, after any slave protecting you the slave should be free and rewarded. But most went right back to free labor outrageous inhumane

[@ScottMarquardt-s7u]

Wonder how many servants were actually half brothers